Audiometer



- Sept, I3, 1949,

L. BLOK 2,481,900 AUDIOMETER Filed May 3, 194s -z .z a I' y $980,1-

/M/f/vr 2,481,900 1 AUDIMETER Lourens Blok, Eindhoven, Netherlands, assigner, by mesne assignments, to Hartford National, Bank and Trust Company, Hartford, Conn.,` as trustee Application May 3, 1946, Serial No. 666,870 In the Netherlands August 14, 1941 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 'Patent expires August 14, 1961 6. Claims. (Cl. 179-1) deterioration of the sensitivenessA of the ear with 50 or 100 cycles per sec., it occurs that the'patifent respect-t that of a normal person. U no longer perceives the measuring signal itself For Such an examination use is preferably but does perceive an interfering voltage ofa fremade of a so-called audiometerwith` the aid 0f quency located, for example, between lfooo and which it is possible to generate an audible tone 2000 cycles per sec. and of a comparatively lower of adjustable frequencyy whose intensity can be amplitude than the measuring signal itself, which regu-lated atleast inv a; step-wise manner. interfering voltage is set up due to the' measuring There are known audiometerswhich comprise signal being switched on and olf, and on account a tube generator forl generating a low-frequency ofl this interfering voltage he still' thinks to per- Supplied,I Va @nampiifie'ltnd an adjustable at- 15 in measurement due to the said,y interfering voltof the so-calledmasking examination, which is ity Curves of the ear, the componentsv of' the freusual in the case ofunilateral deafness, therev is quency spectrum of the interfering voltages proprovided an auxiliaryr switch for" interrupting the duced upon the auxiliary switch being shifted are measuring signal for a shorttinie. preferably suppressed to suchen extent that at With an audiorneter Carefshouldf be taken, to the most these components cause a sound ofan a much higher extent than with the usual apintensity which is still Just imperceptible to the The desired suppression of interfering voltages noises such., for example, as the rustling noise of may be effected in different ways, for example, the amplifier, the hum of the` mains and the like, by causing, upon switching-on themeasurin-g sigsince they might influence the obtained measnal, the anode voltage and/or the screen grid uri'ng results in an objectively uncontrollable voltage of one of the amplifying tubes utilized to manner. increase gradually to its normal value in such The invention has for itsy object to improve manner that the audible frequency components aiidlometers and thus to; avoid inl a simple manner of the switching-on current impulse, which coniany parasitic noise which has under certain conponents may occur in this case, only exhibit a ditions a greatlt7 disturblng eff'eton the results very small amplitude. For this purpose, the sup- G the; measurement ply voltage concerned is preferably supplied, via

There occur errorsiri measurement if, in order the auxiliary switch and a retarding network to avoid faulty measuring results due to the which may consist of a simple resistance-conphenomena of-fatigue of the patient, in the noldenser circuit, to the anode and/orto the screen mal examination of the ear each time at first grid of the tube, i the desired. intensityy of themeasuring signal is It has been found that substantially noerrors y.adjusted with the aid oftheattenuatorfand only due to switching-on phenomena occur in the then the reproducing device is switched into measurement if the time constant of the resistcircuit. ance-condenser circuit connected to the auxiliary According to the invention, the errors in switch exceeds 0.05 sec.; the time constantprefmeasurement which occur with the above-menerably amounts to about0.2 sec.

tioned method of examination, vare avoided by There are substantially twov causes of the prosuppressing at least partly th audible comduction of interfering voltages: they may occur phenomena and supplied to the reproducing deauxiliary switch is shifted at a moment when the vice upon the auxiliary switch being shifted. instantaneous value of the measuring signal: h-as It should be observed that in the present case a value which differs from zero.

he said switching-on phenomena are particu- In connection with the first-mentionedcause larly troublesome since for frequencies, for exitis advantageous to provide the auxiliary switch In view of the last-mentioned cause the generator is preferably put into operation by means of the auxiliary switch. Upon switching the oscillator tube into circuit the amplitude of the produced measuring signal automatically increases slowly to the final value in a period of time which is determined by the quality of the oscillator circuit.

A further cause of disturbance may reside in the fact that during the retarded switching-on operation higher harmonics of the measuring signal are produced. Also in connection therewith it is advantageous, in order to avoid nonlinear distortion, to set the generator into operation with the aid of the auxiliary switch instead of switching one of the amplifying tubes into circuit with the aid of the said switch and/ or to provide this switch in the control grid circuit of a lightly loaded electron tube having a grid voltage-anode current characteristic curve which exhibits an exponential course.

The invention will be explained more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing which represents, by way of example, one particularly advantageous form of construction of an audiometer according to the invention.

In the audiometer representing the generator for producing a low-frequency alternating voltage of adjustable frequency consists for practical reasons of two differently tuned high-frequency oscillators Oi and Oz, which serve for the coarse and iine adjustment respectively of the frequency of the measuring signal, a frequency changer M and a filter F for taking the desired audible frequency from the frequency changer, the differential frequency being supplied, after being amplified with the aid of an amplifier V, to a loudspeaker L. An attenuator D is interposed between amplifier V and loudspeaker L to control the volume of signal applied to the latter. Attenuator D may be of any conventional design, such as an adjustable T pad.

The exact system of connections of the audiometer according to the invention is only shown in so far as it is necessary for the explanation of the present invention.

The high-frequency oscillator O2 comprises a triode l, retroactively connected to an adjustable oscillatory circuit 2 located in the control grid circuit, a grid lcondenser 3 and a grid resistance consisting of two parts 4 and 5 respectively. An output coil 6 connected in the anode circuit of the triode is coupled with the coil of the oscillatory circuit 2.

In order to be able to switch the measuring signal at will on and off, the control grid circuit of the triode l comprises an auxiliary switch 1 which is connected in series with a source of negative grid bias 8 and a resistance 9. The ends of this series-connection are connected to the terminals of a condenser I which is connected in parallel with the part of the grid resistance.

For switching off the measuring signal the auxiliary switch 1 is closed, in which event a portion of the voltage of the source 8, which portion corresponds to the proportion of the resistances 5 and 9, is supplied as a negative bias to the control grid of the triode. If for the Suppression of the anode current of the triode a negative grid bias of, for example, 5 volts is required, tlie negative bias supplied to the grid when the auxiliary switch 1 is closed preferably amounts to about l5 volts. When the auxiliary switch is opened in order to switch-on the measuring signal, the condenser ID slowly discharges through the resistance l5 with the result that the grid voltage gradually increases. By suitably dimensioning the condenser lliv and the resistance 5 it is possible to avoid with certainty that interfering voltages which may occur due to the closure of the direct-current circuit 8, 1, 9, 5 should attain the reproducing device owing to the fact that during the presence of these interfering voltages the anode current of the diode l is suppressed.

After a period of time determined by the time constant of the retarding network l0, 9, 5 connected to the time switch 1 has elapsed after the closure of the auxiliary switch 1 the anode current of the triode l sets in. However, immediately after the anode current has set in the slope of the triode is, however, not yet sufcient to render possible oscillation of the oscillator. The slope characteristic of the tube increases according as the negative grid bias decreases and at a given instant the system starts oscillating with an amplitude which slowly increases to the final value. The rapidity with which the amplitude increases to its final value may be influenced not only by the rapidity of the decrease of the grid bias b y the choice of the characteristic curve of the tube, for example by utilizing a tube having a slope, but also by the choice of the quality of the circuit 2. Since in this way a large measuring signal amplitude is not suddenly supplied to the reproducing device, the interfering voltages occurring in this case can only have very small amplitudes. With the aid of thedescribed system of connections the two above-mentioned principal causes of the production of interfering voltages are consequently substantially avoided whilst, as has been found, with the represented system of connections there are neither encountered inconveniences which are due to interfering voltages set up by nonlinear distortion.

What I claim is:

1. In an audiometer including an audio amplifier, an adjustable attenuator and a reproducer coupled to the output of said amplifier through said attenuator, means for supplying audio frequency oscillations to the input of said amplifier comprising an oscillator for producing oscillations having a predetermined amplitude level, and means for selectively in one position abruptly reducing the amplitude level of said oscillator to zero and in another position causing said amplitude level to rise gradually at a prescribed rate from zero to said predetermined level.

2. In an audiometer including an audio amplifier, an adjustable attenuator and a reproducer coupled to the output of said amplifier through said attenuator, means for supplying audio frequency oscillations to the input of said amplifier comprising an oscillator for producing oscillations of a predetermined amplitude and including an electron discharge device having a control grid, and means for selectively applying to said control grid in one position a bias of fixed magnitude effecting an abrupt cessation of said oscillations and in another position a bias of a diminishing magnitude effecting a gradual rise in the amplitude of said oscillations to said predetermined level.

In an audiometer having a low frequency amplifier, an adjustable attenuator and a reproducer coupled to the output of said amplifier through said attenuator, means for supplying low frequency oscillations to the input of said amplifier comprising rst and second high frenon-conductive and thereby disable said oscillaquency oscillators, a mixer for combining the fretor, and a resistance-capacitance delay network including an electron discharge device having a .Y to said predetermined level.

control grid means for selectively applying to said f' 6. An audiometer comprising means for gencontrol grid in one position a bias of a xed mageiating audio frequency oscillations, an amplier nitude eiTecting an abrupt cessation of said oscilfor said oscillations, an adJustable attenuator and lations and in another position a bias of dimina reproducer connected to the output of said ama reproducer connected to the output of said am- 2r switching means is opened whereby the ampli- LOURENS BLOK. tude of oscillations produced by said oscillator rises slowly at a prescribed rate to said pre- 35 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 5. An audiometer comprising means for gerifue of this patent:

for said oscillations, an adjustable attenuator, UNITED STATES PATENTS and a reproducer connected to the output of said 40 Number Name Date amplier through said attenuator, said gener- Re 21,735 Huth et a1 Man 4, 1941 ating means comprising an oscillator for produc- 1,750,960 Langenbeck et a1. Mar. 18, 1930 ing oscillations having a predetermined ampli- 2,072,705 Bloomheart Mar- 2, 1937 tude level and including an electron discharge 2,119,971 Snead June 7, 1938 device having a control grid and a bias circuit for 4" 287,401 Wenge1 June 23, 1942 said grid, a source of cut-off potential, switching 2,310,588 Mages F60 9, 1943 means operative when closed to apply said po- 2,257,252 Koren Sept, 30l 1947 

